More actions, less planning (Say "no" to an action plan!?)

I guess it's just not normal to be so far away from a person's home country. I have some friends that are American here, but I really just feel so alone these days!

AND on top of it all, I'm not thrilled with my job at the moment. There's just too much to do and a lot of it's not fun. I really want to be following my passions, but it just takes so long to build clientele that on some days I feel like that's too overwhelming to accomplish the things I want.

I also have been eating high fat these days, don't know why. I'm pretty sure my body is asking for food but not THAT food.

Even being 100% raw, all these things are affecting my health. I'm getting a tiny bit of a belly. I feel like my body is protecting me. The funny/strange thing is that I've been going to Bikram yoga regularly, and using my body weight for strength and flexibility has been an amazing experience. My legs and arms and back are becoming more shapely. It's quite strange to be developing a bit of a belly at the same time!!!

I'm really brainstorming, trying to figure out an action plan. But maybe that's the problem. Maybe I need to do more actions and less planning. Hmmmm... there's a thought.

Aw well.

Spending LESS money now on raw!

What a strange change has been happening to me these days. I have switched to mostly organic and have been listening intently to my body telling me when I'm full, hungry, thirsty, etc.

My costs have gone down!

I'm just not as hungry. I feel full and satiated with less food. Some part of me wants to eat more just "because I should." But I have so much energy and life!

Mind you, for the last couple months or so, I have been doing less frequent vigorous exercise. I still walk plenty, but that would take very, very fast walking or several hours to get me a little tired these days. So, I'm sure that my body is become more efficient and simply is not expending too many calories. That's got to be part of it. BEFORE I switched to organic, I had noticed that I didn't need huge amounts of food to fill me up.

Organic just tastes better? Or is it the garden sorrel?

Yesterday, I made the choice to buy most of my food organic. I may have to make some exceptions since organic food supply is not so easy to come by, but I'm not sure about that just yet.

In any case, yesterday, I bought a green that looked familiar, but it is most definitely new to my taste buds. I looked up the Hungarian translation to see what it is in English = garden sorrel?! Um, OK. I never heard of that. So I looked it up, and here is what I found: A Botanical Website

Some interesting info on that site about the plant itself and cultivation. Makes me really wish I had land and a garden!

Anyways, it's not just this sorrel that has me pumped. I also got some tomatoes yesterday that were the best I have ever had.

My food has not tasted as good recently, and I think this was what I needed. The good thing, is that I was satisfied after a small amount of food last night and so far today. Not super small, just less than usual when my body said "Whoa, there, I've had enough."

So, I listened. And... funny thing, my blender is broken, so I just had a green salad for breakfast instead of a green smoothie! LOL, what a funnily, perfectly what I wanted... breakfast.

Tips for Good Skin (Very Detailed!)

I wrote the following several months ago. Since then, I have been following my own suggestions and think I can say that I have morphed into someone with consistently "flawless" skin!

I have a confession to make. I've been 100% raw for almost a year, and my skin still isn't perfect. Besides my vanity, this just drives me bonkers because I feel like I do too much of the "right stuff" to have anything less than flawless skin. Mind you -- it actually is pretty nice. Just not PERFECT. High standards. I know.

In any case, I really mean to, but I have NOT been exercising every single day. I think this is a big part of it. I've been googling like mad and using my head, trying to think of ALL of the different pieces to this puzzle.

Here's what I came up with:

Re: digestion/elimination/detoxification...

Under normal circumstances, the body is able to eliminate toxins from the body via urine, feces, exhalation, and perspiration. Thus, the major organs involved in elimination are the kidneys, liver, colon, lungs, and skin. In addition, WBCs (white blood cells) of the immune system are designed to neutralize microbial toxins. The liver is the organ primarily responsible for breaking toxins into harmless byproducts, which are eliminated into the stool or through the kidneys into the urine.

The previous was found here: http://www.innvista.com/health/microbes/toxins.htm

The bolding is mine.

So here's what I figure...

Our body has a few ways to get rid of wastes and toxins. The primary method is through the feces. (Hint, hint: Green smoothies! Info here: Basic Green Smoothie) The liver and then kidneys turn additional toxins into the "harmless byproducts" which are then eliminated through urination.

If this is not working well, then the skin is up next. Pimples! Rashes! Dry patches! And skin that just... doesn't... radiate HEALTH!

So, based on everything I have been looking at and have learned from experience, questions, books, and posts, here is my personal take on the things that "matter" and help for good skin...

Top Priority: Eliminate through feces!

Drink those green smoothies!

EVERY DAY!!! REALLY.

Have some ground flax every day.

Have an apple a day. (We want to keep the doctor away anyways, right?!)

EXERCISE! DAILY! It helps move the bowels and digestion.

Dry skin brush. It helps with circulation and thus digestion and the bowels. (Face AND body!)

8-10 cups of water daily. Who hasn't heard this?! No excuses!

Vitamineral Green or some sort of green powder (Optional -- but I believe it helps from my short experience with it and how it seems to really help move my bowels!)[Edited later to note that I believe it to maybe be helpful but am not certain.]

Rebound or Jump rope! This helps the lymph nodes, circulation and thus -- getting everything moving!

Edited to add: Oil pull! This is actually to help with getting rid of toxins. It is great! I have a blog post that explains the reasoning and the how-to behind this. You can find it here: Oil Pulling How and Why

Next priority: Don't add MORE toxins! And keep the stress at bay!

Eat (100%-ish) raw! (I know, I know, it goes without saying. But I had to say it!)

Breathe deeply and consciously EVERY day at some point. This helps to breathe better all day. Which is good for stress and for circulation.

Eat organic if possible.

Drink filtered water.

Don't use chemical-filled products (i.e. shampoos, conditioners, soaps, laundry detergent, facial cleanser, etc.)

Consciously relax the face muscles. This is another de-stressing technique.

Limit your time on the computer. We all love RFT and RFC , but we are made to have a life away from the computer screen sometimes!

Get some fresh air. This really helps with destressing. Even when it's cold. For crying out loud, just put on a jacket and whatever other amount of cold-weather gear it takes!

And about the above, if you're not in a cold climate ... Well, no excuses! Get outside! You need all the sunshine + Vitamin D you can get in that case.

Stretch for 5-10 minutes a day. This helps with circulation and destressing.

Exercise every darn day. Even if just for a few minutes. Usually a few minutes turns into a few more once you get moving anyways!

Some other skin-specific remedies to add:

Fasting periodically for some period of time. (Even if it's just for 12 hours or one day). This gives the organs a chance to continue cleansing. This is helpful because skin problems really are usually that the liver and kidneys need a break or a chance to cleanse.

Cucumber juice. Alissa Cohen has a recipe in her book specifically for skin that is something like this (sorry if it's not exact; this is from memory and how I do it!): 2 cucumbers, 1/2 red pepper, 2 carrots, 1 apple, a touch of ginger

External remedy: Put honey on skin (a light amount to cover entire face), let it sit for about 20-30 minutes. Rub some warm-hot water and brown sugar into skin to remove the honey. (Thanks to a Brazilian chick at the local spa!)

So, these are my suggestions, and they work. Please, please leave comments if you have tried-and-true suggestions you would like me to add and want to share with others. :)


Edited to add: My good friend Joz has reminded me about "beauty sleep." I actually didn't know whether to put this under the tips about elimination or those about stress. Early to bed, early to rise ... makes a difference for elimination AND stress!

Getting through Emotional Detox and Eating Carbs

A gracious young woman on RFT (www.rawfoodtalk.com) is going through a really tough time at 3 weeks into raw food. She is sad and depressed and also wanting some more carbohydrates (other than just fruit). I won't name her here out of respect, but I think the information I posted to her could be useful to someone else:

First, I'm sending a hug out to you! You are most definitely going through detox. When we hold in emotions or stuff them down/protect ourselves (even subconsciously) by having a glass of wine or munching on chips, pretzels, cheese and crackers, etc... our body honors our actions by not letting us feel the entirety of the emotions. But then they're stuck until our body is ready to let go of them. Eating raw is so cleansing and healing that you're at a point of cleaning out the old emotions too.

Emotional detox is very real and sometimes painful. Trust your body. Love yourself. You will get through this an (emotionally) healthier person and certainly happier too. If you are a religious person, ask your higher power for the strength to get you through. If you are not, tell yourself OUT LOUD, "This is temporary. I will get through this. I deserve to be truly happy." And that is what will happen. You will find that, if you allow the healing, you will probably be happier than you've felt in many years. For no reason!

As for your desire for carbohydrates, I have an answer for you! Do you have Alissa's book? If you do, look up the burger bun recipe. (If you don't have it, feel free to send me an email by clicking on my name. I'll send it to you rather than posting it here.) It has sprouted buckwheat groats in it. If you have not already tried it, it is very filling.

You can use the burger buns as a pizza crust, a bread, burger bun, it's even the calzone recipe's outside! As well, I sometimes sprout buckwheat (takes less than 24 hours and is the easiest sprouting process!), then add some oil, spices and salt (not a lot!), then dehydrate. BAM! Popcorn! It's filling in the say way as eating bread or other carbs and can also be added on top of salads for a crunch, etc.

Did I mention that you're going to get through this?! You are!

Nuts vs. Fruits

I was just thinking about this because of some things that came up here in Hungary.

In the US, I couldn't just go get almonds anywhere, it had to be special ordered and in bulk for it to be affordable and not pasteurized, all that jazz. Since I arrived in Hungary, I tried a few different packaged, unpasteurized almonds, and they did not taste fresh or good or SOMEthing.

I finally found some almonds that were still in the shell. These taste as fresh and wonderful as the ones I ordered from www.almonds-from-california.com... but this means I have to open the almonds' shells by hand every time I eat some.

Then it must be that -- nuts were NOT meant to be eaten in large quantities! If they were, it would not be so difficult to get them out of the shell. Apples and other fruits are so EASY to get to, just pull them off the tree and eat.

How many of you all are shelling your nuts? If you are finding that you have an addiction, my suggestion would be:
1/Buy nuts that you have to shell.
and
2/Conscious eating = ONLY eat when you can focus on only eating (i.e. not while in front of the computer or talking or walking or reading. JUST eating).

This will bring you closer to what nature intended, and you will be more likely to listen to what your body is telling you and to move beyond the emotions telling you to eat for any reason other than hunger.

ADHD -- Conquering it every day

I committed to writing about the things I do every day to conquer ADHD -- on a bad day! I had too many other things to do, but now it is on my mind that I said I would share some pointers. My husband is here, and we're on vacation, so this will be shorter than I would prefer... but I will spend the time to edit it later.

I must say one thing that is HUGE -- I was NOT able to cope without drugs until I went raw. Then my head cleared up. I still have to do a lot of individual things (many are below), but going raw changed my world. I tried many times to wean myself off meds or to just stop. My life would turn into a chaotic and emotional nightmare. Not so now. I am in control.

For me, my biggest problems have been focusing on things I'm not interested in and keeping organized. I've also been habitually late and have lost personal items all too frequently. I always was the butt of the "you'd lose your head if it wasn't attached" jokes. There's plenty more, but these are the things that have affected me most.

A friend of mine tells me that my coping methods mean I have exchanged ADHD for OCD. I tell him to bug off. It works for me. Here is what I do:

--I have a place for EVERYthing and everything in its place. Always. OK -- actually -- only "always" when I am not on vacation or it is a work day.

My keys? On a hook by the door. I have three sets, just in case. But I don't need them because they always go on the hook now that I have installed it. My purse goes on the same hook. I have a shelf by the door as well, and this is where I put my wallet and other items I might need on my way out the door (metro card etc.). I had to fight to get into this habit, but now it is ingrained.

Scissors, pencils, etc. all have ONE place and they all go there.

--If I find things have gotten a little out of order (which makes me crazy but is not a big problem outside of the work day), I have a digital egg timer (the timer is perfect because the clicking if it weren't digital would make me bonkers but the egg timer is not complicated so it works). I set it for 10 or 15 minutes. I tell myself I will spend x minutes doing my best to get it all in order, then sometimes I will reward myself somehow.

--I have two places for phone numbers and addresses. One is in a safe spot at home and has LOTS of stuff in it, including credit card phone numbers in case they are lost and various account numbers and info. The other goes with me in my wallet and is super small. I never move either of these items from their spots.

--I have ONE set of papers where I write things like passwords and usernames. It is scanned into my computer when I add a page and it's full. If I'm at home, I never just scribble things down. I must write on that set of papers, which has a home in one place only.

--The timer I mentioned above has been really useful for tasks I hate or have a hard time with. I spend 10 or 15 minutes doing everything I can, then move on.

--I have a checklist of things to do every day on my computer, and I add other to-do items to it. This is the ONLY place I put work to-do items unless they're time specific (those go on my calendar and remind me when they're about to start). This way I can keep items off my mind unless it's time to do that particular task. A book called "Getting things done" is where I found out about doing this. It's more detailed than just having the task list, but it's been wildly successful for me. This can be modified for children, work, home, etc. The book is not marketed for ADDers... but it is GREAT for exactly what I need.

--I am patient with myself and realize that I can't always do things the ways others do. Sometimes I have to read out loud or change rooms, get the world organized before I can concentrate. When I can't concentrate on what I'm doing, I pay attention to what's on my mind and do something to improve it. Sometimes I have to walk and talk around my apartment to brainstorm. Sometimes it's better to have music on, or off. I just go with the flow and adjust as needed without making a big thing of it or beating myself up.

--I ALWAYS get some exercise in the morning before work or class. And it has to be enough to make me sweat and to feel really, really happy (the seratonin's got to be going wild before I'm back). This clears my head and makes the day go more smoothly.

--Working at home means I'm in control, but it also means I can do what I need to do to make the world go round exactly as I want. It means if I don't do the things above, I am responsible to move the world back to where it belongs.

I'll add more later!

But for now, other things that I did not touch on and are super important are that various vitamin/mineral deficiencies can be pivotal in making ADHD worse or even causing the symptoms but not necessarily the disorder. Calcium, magnesium, antioxidants, iodine, iron, zinc and omega fatty acids are ALL important. They all work together to make everything work.

Raw foods are the best sources for these, and green smoothies are 100% necessary in my opinion. I have some ground flax, salt, berries, etc. when I crave them and do not limit them at all. If I crave 3 boxes of blueberries, then I listen. If I want salt, salt, salt, I just do it (but it's Himalayan or Celtic sea salt, NOT table salt!!).

Preservatives, wheat products, hydrogenized or any other -ized can mess around with my brain. If I stick to raw, I know it's good. Nama Shoyu and Bragg's liquid aminos are used in MANY raw recipes but are NOT raw and mess with my brain. I choose to not have them ever. Some people do. Good for them... no good for me! ;)